Share this article

But throughout Sunday there was an average of ten to 14 vehicles waiting to unload ill people – and at one point there was 24 ambulances, with one waiting five hours, 26 minutes.

Managers were forced to ask off-duty staff to come in to work and beg patients to stay away unless they were seriously ill.

The hospital tweeted to urge patients to stay away from its overstretched A&E unless they were seriously ill

'People may die'

A patient took to Facebook and wrote: 'My five-month-old was struggling to breathe due to bronchitis.

'I was told to get an ambulance but there wasn't one available so I had to drive up there. Then I still had to wait to be seen. I was so scared!'

Another posted: 'The hospital is hideously stretched. My husband sat in an ambulance for two hours, then a corridor for 40 minutes before a blood test indicated the seriousness of his condition and he was moved to resuscitation.'

The chief executive of Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust Mark Cubbon tweeted to thank staff for volunteering to work on New Year's Eve and the following day

Hospital chiefs say that flu, a seasonal spike in admissions and staff sickness contributed to the problems.

Joyce Robins, from Patient Concern, said: 'The queue of ambulances is a shocking illustration of the pressures the NHS is under.

'Waiting five hours to be seen is appalling. People may die. We need to tackle this problem urgently.'

Last year, patients were treated by paramedics outside the A&E department on January 2 as 20 ambulance crews waited to admit them, according to local newspaper reports.

WINTER CRISIS CRIPPLES THE NHS

Hospitals were last night ordered to cancel thousands of operations to try to tackle a winter health crisis.

In an unprecedented move, NHS chiefs demanded radical action to free up beds and medical staff. Casualty units are under 'extreme and sustained' pressure with flu cases on the rise.

Up to 55,000 non-urgent operations will be postponed until February, along with thousands of outpatient appointments and scans.

Managers will be allowed to put patients on mixed-sex wards and consultants will be assigned to casualty units to assess patients on arrival. Anyone not judged to be seriously ill faces being turned away.

It comes as an A&E consultant at University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust apologised for the 'third world conditions' endured at his hospital this weekend.

Dr Richard Fawcett revealed that the department had run out of corridors to house patients. He blamed the crisis, which saw some patients have to wait for 12 hours, on overcrowding.

The first week of January is always busy with patients coming in with flu, chest infections, heart attacks and strokes.

Government figures also reveal confirmed cases of flu have risen 50 per cent in a week and experts are worried about an especially aggressive 'Australian' strain.